


Small Spaces

by untapdtreasure



Category: Law & Order: Criminal Intent
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-09-28
Updated: 2010-09-28
Packaged: 2017-10-12 06:34:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/121957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/untapdtreasure/pseuds/untapdtreasure
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This was written for the Mid June to July challenge at ci_fans_unite on livejournal. The requirements are as follows: 1). must reference at least one of the following: Transformers 1 or 2, the harry potter series (movies or books) and Star Trek (the new movie) 2). the character/pairing must get stuck on an elevator 3). flat tire 4). handcuffs make either an appearance or be referenced 5). items in pocket: pack of gum with only 3 sticks remaining, a receipt from the 7-11, and enough change to get a bag of Skittles from the vending machine 6). a television season on DVD must be referenced. (the television series is totally up to the author) 7). A ringtone featuring the Backstreet Boy's song Quit Playing Games With My Heart</p>
            </blockquote>





	Small Spaces

& & & & & & &

 

Alex took a shaky breath as she punched his speed dial number. "Bobby?" she asked, hoping that her voice did not betray her true emotions.

 

"Eames?" Bobby asked as he wiped sweat out of his eyes.

 

"Yeah. Where are you?" Alex pressed all the buttons on the elevator.

 

"At home. I am changing a flat." He released the jack and watched the car as it settled on three regular tires and the spare.

 

"Oh..." Her voice wavered.

 

"Alex, what's wrong?" His radar had finally honed in on her mood. Something was not right with her. He could tell.

 

"I'm stuck in the elevator," she admitted. "I've pressed all the buttons and nothing is happening."

 

Bobby hurriedly tossed all the tools back into his trunk. "Did you call maintenance?" It had been several months since the events that happened with Jo, but he knew she still had trouble in small places. This must be torture.

 

"Yeah. They said they would have me out as fast as they could." Alex ran a shaky hand down her face. "Could be an hour or more." She was not sure she would last that long.

 

Bobby was now headed toward One Police Plaza. He had to keep her talking. "I'm sure they'll have you out of there in no time."

 

"I just..." She swallowed the lump in her throat. "Just talk to me." She was trapped, and the walls were closing in on her. Trapped. She hated that feeling.

 

"Have you eaten?" He asked, trying to get her focus onto anything else.

 

"No. No. I wasn't hungry." How she regretted that now. "If only I had stopped..."

 

"I'm going to get there as fast as I can. I'll get you out of there." He turned left, taking the only shortcut he knew to avoid construction.

 

"I can hear them above working to get it open," she said as she sat down on the elevator floor. Pacing had not been working for her. Panicking would not either.

 

"That's good. You'll be out of there before I even get there." He only hoped this was the truth. "I'll even treat you to a nice big breakfast anywhere you want...and we'll take the stairs."

 

Alex smiled at this. Calling him had been the right thing to do. She teased, "You may regret that. I feel like I could eat an elephant."

 

Bobby laughed softly. "I think we'd have to go to Africa to find that kind of breakfast."

 

Alex started digging through her pockets, looking for anything to keep her mind off eating. A pack of spearmint gum with three sticks remaining, a receipt from the 7-11 down her block where she had bought coffee that morning, and change. "Sixty five...seventy..." she counted softly out loud.

 

"Skittle money?" he asked, knowing her habits like his own.

 

Alex smirked. "I had actually considered M&M's..."

 

Bobby shook his head. "Well, that would totally throw off our routine..."

 

"Routine?" she questioned, not completely focusing on what he was saying.

 

"Yeah. Our routine is the same...we come in, go through our inboxes...do necessary paperwork, then you go to the vending machine for Skittles and a Diet Coke. You somehow seem to have gotten it in your head that one cancels out the other..."

 

Alex snorted, "I am not delusional. I like the taste...and I work out an extra ten minutes to take care of the Skittles."

 

Bobby shook his head and braked hard to avoid hitting a dumpster in the alleyway he had chosen. He maneuvered around it and was back out on the main street. He could not be anymore than ten minutes away now. "So...read any good books lately?"

 

Alex pushed a stick of gum into her mouth. "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban..." She had been trying to read the whole series since discovering the movies late one night when she could not sleep.

 

"The one with Sirius Black?" Bobby asked only being vaguely familiar with the popular series.

 

Alex nodded. "Yeah. I'm having a hard time getting really interested in the books though. I'm only reading them to have any kind of clue as to what Stephanie and Marley talk about on Sundays. I'm totally lost."

 

"Your sister-in-laws are into Harry Potter?" This amused him to know end. They were both older than Alex.

 

Alex snorted, "Yes. They...can't stop talking about how good the series is. So I thought...I'd give it a shot. I don't get the appeal."

 

Bobby could see the building that housed Major Case looming on the horizon. "Are they still working on the elevator?"

 

Alex nodded. "Yeah. Sounds like I'll be here awhile yet." She heard a cell phone go off above her in the shaft. She started to laugh. "Bobby, you won't believe this but one of them has Quit Playing Games With My Heart playing on their cell phone."

 

Bobby was relieved to hear her relaxing some. "I bet it's Ross."

 

Alex snorted then and sat up. "That would be too funny."

 

The elevator lurched then and gave her a start. "Oh!"

 

Bobby's heart thudded in his chest. "Eames?"

 

Alex closed her eyes. "It's moving. The elevator, I mean. It's moving up." She pushed herself to her feet as it slid to a stop and the doors started to open. She moved past the maintenance men and Ross. "It's about time."

 

Ross shook his head as he replaced his cell phone on the clip on his belt. "You were only in there about twenty minutes."

 

Alex nodded. It had felt like longer. "I'm out, Bobby." She left the three men standing, staring after her as she moved to the vending machine. She fed the change into the machine and pressed the familiar number. "If Tony ever stops stocking Skittles, I'll cuff him to the machine."

 

Bobby chuckled. "He tried that once before and I don't think he'll be eager to go there again anytime soon." It had not been pretty.

 

Alex tore into the Skittles bag with her teeth as she moved to their desks. She noticed her copy of Season 6 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer on her desk. She'd let Wheeler borrow it. She put it in the bottom drawer and sat down. "Where are you now?"

 

"Pulling into the garage. I'll see you in a few...or do you want to meet me down here for that breakfast?" He had been serious about taking her out to eat.

 

"Let's wait on that. I want to get this paperwork to Ross before he fires us both." She clicked the phone shut and pulled the folder toward her.

 

She was lost in filling out the report when her phone rang a few minutes later. She read the display and frowned. "Now where are you?"

 

"Stuck in the elevator..."


End file.
